


Spaceman’s Honeymoon

by longwhitecoats



Category: Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L. Sayers
Genre: F/M, Honeymoon, IN SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!, Murder Mystery, casefic, inventory, together they solve crime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28308738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/longwhitecoats/pseuds/longwhitecoats
Summary: A partial inventory of Lord Peter Wimsey’s travelling cases, packed for spaceflight by M. Bunter, with notations by the same.
Relationships: Harriet Vane/Peter Wimsey
Comments: 13
Kudos: 58
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Spaceman’s Honeymoon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [couldaughter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/couldaughter/gifts).



> NB: Although there are no graphic depictions of violence, there are some descriptions of wounds.

A partial inventory of Lord Peter Wimsey’s travelling cases, packed for spaceflight by M. Bunter, with notations by the same. 

Item: MS. (fragmentary), _De Arte Venandi cum Avibus_ , on loan from Bodleian (Digby 152). Wrapped together in a weatherproof cover with a small leather notebook belonging to Lord Wimsey, containing his notations on falconry, and several letters postmarked from Oxford requesting the return of the manuscript.

Item: Three starched collars tailored for Lord Wimsey’s surface-walking suit.

Item: One surface-walking suit, manufactured by Brown & Sons, fitted with retrobreather and custom internal micro- and tele-scoping lenses. Action in the pistons under the left knee has been spotty, perhaps due to Lord Wimsey’s slight unevenness of stride; to be repaired or replaced upon return to Earth.

Item: Twenty-four bottles Château du Ciel Sangiovese ’20, a personal gift of Martian Senator S. D. Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, packed in dehydrolated foam to inhibit vibration. Not to be removed or repacked under any circumstances.

Item: A selection of news clippings from the _Mars Observer_ regarding the murder of Senator Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, with text circled.

> _found stabbed to death in a hydraulic lift near the Martian Senate House. His widow was not available for comment, and there are reports throughout the city that she has suffered a nervous collapse. Police have arrested no suspects yet in connexion with the murder._
> 
> _The Senator was to present in the House today a bill that would eliminate all fiefdoms, indenture, and feudal practices, including the regal appointment of Overseers. The bill would have effectively ended the crown’s power to appropriate fiefs for members of the inner circle and replaced it with a system of allotment tenable only by Martian residents. Senator Vanderbilt went before the Senate instead to propose the bill be delayed, at least until the body could be transported to Earth for a funeral. He pledged to contact his father in order to ask for an expedited transfer; no word yet from Buckingham Palace on whether this was granted._
> 
> _The autopsy, released this morning, does not confirm a weapon or method of_

Item: A suiting jacket for wear underneath a surface-walking suit with leather elbow and forearm patches. Substantially damaged. Initials stitched into the collar read _Q. C. V._

Item: One vacuum-firing pistol, manufactured by A. R. Pannekar Ltd., and two boxes of ammunition, one half-empty. The metal barrel of the pistol has been heavily scored on the outside; firing appears correct on last test but should be examined in atmosphere, where the danger of explosion is lessened.

Item: Toiletries and sundries in a small bag, including three pots of Cosmo Man Inc. branded toothpaste.

*

A partial inventory of Lady Wimsey’s travelling case, packed for spaceflight by her ladyship and then repacked by M. Bunter. 

Item: A manuscript of Lady Wimsey’s most recent opus with marginal notations, originally loose-sheaved but now bound in twine and wrapped with a weatherproof cover. Also an assortment of pencils, low-gravity-welled pens, low-gravity ink, &c.

Item: A traveller’s guide to Martian life, with pages marked for astronomical phenomena visible from the surface of Mars; history of Martian feudal holdings; technical drawings of the Great Dome; agriculture and husbandry on Mars; and the Martian economy.

Item: The popular biography _Cosmo’s Cosmos_ , with a glove used as a bookmark in Chapter Six: The Red Planet.

> _a good site for building. But still the investors just weren’t willing to take the leap. Enter Cosmo, who could convince anybody of anything. Within months, the Empire’s richest were falling over themselves to line his pockets in exchange for promises that Mars would increase their wealth beyond their wildest dreams. Nobody noticed that he just happened to steal a lot of honest people’s hard work in order to make it happen. Just ask the engineers at Dalton & Timms, who spent years bidding for the Mars Dome contract only to lose out to Cosmo – who proposed the exact same plans, but at a lower cost! As everyone now knows, the first Dome’s collapse was caused by the shoddy materials used in its construction, which surely explains how Cosmo undercut the price. _
> 
> _After Cosmo purchased the entirety of the Planum Boreum for a second build site, he got cagier. No collapse was going to bring him down. This time, he took a leaf out of the Empire’s book: indentured servitude. With Earth’s best and brightest crushed under the heel of his contracts, Cosmo was poised to_

Item: Three sets of fine lingerie in white and cream, of Italian make. Refolded carefully after an initial packing effort creased the fabric.

Item: Spare bandages for her ladyship’s arms and hands.

Item: A half-dozen pairs of spare gloves, manufacturer unknown; a gift of Senator Vanderbilt to her ladyship.

Item: A silverprint photograph of her ladyship with Senator Vanderbilt, taken candidly, showing wounds to her arms and hands and to the Senator’s face and shoulders.

Item: The Martian Medal of Honor, awarded for extraordinary bravery and valor, and enclosing gilded box.

*

A complete inventory of the compartment delegated by the Martian Senate for return to Earth, with packing overseen by M. Bunter. 

Item: The body of Senator S. D. Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, nitro-packed with affiliated organic matter in jars marked with a biohazard seal. Gouged deeply in the neck, face, and arms. Wounds to the underside of the forearms are likely defensive, with arms having been held overhead to defend against the assailant. Death occasioned by severing of the jugular vein. Cosmetic work will be necessary prior to display of the body for the state funeral.

Item: Several formal suits belonging to the Senator for possible use at his funeral.

Item: The body of Quentin Cosmo V, captain of Martian industry, founder of Cosmo Man, Inc., and son of London stockbroker Quentin Cosmo IV. Body still dressed in clothes worn at the time of death, including thick leather gloves and a suit jacket with large areas of reinforced leather on the arms, exhibiting numerous scratches. Cause of death is a vacuum-fired bullet to the chest, causing much of the torso to disintegrate.

Item: One Martian goshawk, live, hooded and kenneled. To the attention of the Royal Falconer for acclimation to higher gravity and the exclusive hunting of other birds.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my wonderful beta Kleenestar for the read, and to Dr_Whom for the title of the fic and the title of the biography.
> 
> If you enjoyed this story, I heartily recommend [the story that inspired its format](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17110754) by [brutti_ma_buoni](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brutti_ma_buoni/pseuds/brutti_ma_buoni), which I received two Yuletides ago and still cherish.


End file.
